At UFC 287, we saw a middleweight title rematch. Israel Adesanya (24-2) and Alex Pereira (7-2) battled for the fourth time in combat sports while this was only their second fight in MMA. They fought for the first time back in November with Pereira getting the better of Adesanya and winning the middleweight title.
It was the third straight time that Pereira had defeated Adesanya. Entering UFC 287, many doubted that Adesanya could even overcome the Brazilian. Both men had a good first round with Pereira really focusing on the leg kicks.
In the second round, those leg kicks really started to take a toll. It appeared that Adesanya was getting hurt by the leg kicks and Pereira was really upping the pressure. With just over a minute left in the round, Pereira appeared to hurt Adesanya.
He had him back against the cage and went in with his hands down unleashing combinations. However, it almost appeared to be a trap as Adesanya unleashed a quick 1-2 with the right hand hurting Pereira bad. Another right hand sent him down for good and Adesanya regained the UFC middleweight title.
Former UFC champ moving up
After the fight was over, Dana White hinted that he thought Pereira would move up to light heavyweight. Adesanya said he wasn’t interested in doing the trilogy and he thought Pereira would move up to cause problems at 205.
Well, we now know Pereira’s plans. The former UFC champ took to social media late last night and made it official. Pereira is moving up to light heavyweight for his next fight. It’ll be interesting to see what the promotion decides to do with Pereira.
On one hand, you could have him go right into a title shot against champ Jamahal Hill. Hill has been chirping at Pereira and it’s the biggest fight the UFC could make. Jiri Prochazka is next in line for the title considering he never lost the title, but if he’s not ready to come back from his injury, don’t be shocked if Pereira gets the next shot.